TR Staff - MIT Technology Review http://www.technologyreview.com/stream/27186/?sort=recent
enWeb-Browsing Apps on the iPhonehttp://www.technologyreview.com/view/411651/web-browsing-apps-on-the-iphone/
<p>Apple is warming up to third-party submissions.</p>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/view/411651/web-browsing-apps-on-the-iphone/Ten Web Startups to Watchhttp://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/410314/ten-web-startups-to-watch/
<p>We profile some of the most innovative ideas of the Social Web.</p><p><strong>Instant Voicing</strong><br />Send voice messages without calling, and listen to them from a phone–or a laptop.<br />By Larry Aragon</p>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/410314/ten-web-startups-to-watch/Off-the-Grid Housinghttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409969/off-the-grid-housing/
<p contenteditable="inherit">If you’re worried about dependence on fossil fuels, the RuralZed timber-frame kit house can make you self-sufficient. The house’s energy-conserving features include south-facing windowed walls, a solar-thermal water heating system, natural ventilation that exploits air pressure differentials, heat-absorbent cement or masonry walls and floors, and an airtight polymer membrane that seals seams and joints. Thanks to the resulting savings, the house’s energy requirements can be met by roof-mounted solar panels and specially designed wind turbines that rotate around a vertical axis.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409969/off-the-grid-housing/All-Purpose Handheldhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409968/all-purpose-handheld/
<p>Stripped naked, the Modu is slightly larger than a domino, with a small screen, a seven-­button keypad, and one gigabyte of data storage. It’s a working cell phone, but it can also be popped into larger gadgets–called “jackets” and “mates”–that borrow its wireless connection, processor, and stored data. Mates are things like PDAs and GPS receivers that work fine on their own; jackets work only with the Modu inside and are mostly larger phones with added features and bigger screens.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409968/all-purpose-handheld/Next Thing To Being Therehttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409967/next-thing-to-being-there/
<p>It may look like the popular Roomba vacuum cleaner as it scoots across the living-room floor, but iRobot’s new ConnectR is actually a way for people to interact with distant relatives or pets. The robot is equipped with a Wi-Fi antenna, a speaker, a microphone, and a tilting, zooming video camera. A remote user can pilot the robot over the Internet, carrying on long-distance conversations and watching video of live events.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409967/next-thing-to-being-there/Sound Separatorhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409966/sound-separator/
<p>Pop stars with more charisma than talent have long enjoyed the benefits of software that corrects out-of-tune notes in recorded performances. But that software has worked only with notes that sound one at a time, as in a vocal line or a sax solo. New technology from the German company Celemony, however, can pull apart notes played at the same time–on different strings of a guitar, for instance–and modify them individually. The software even works in real time, for live variation of recorded loops.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409966/sound-separator/Smart Security Camerahttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409965/smart-security-camera/
<p>Security cameras churn out so much data that they can overwhelm storage facilities and clog networks, but most of that data is pretty boring. Thanks to novel computer vision and machine-learning algorithms, ­VideoIQ’s cameras can tell when something suspicious or unusual is happening on screen. At that point, they start recording at a higher resolution and send an alert over the network. Otherwise, they record at such low resolution that they can store months of footage locally, saving disk space and network bandwidth. </p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409965/smart-security-camera/Lithium-Ion Electric Carhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409964/lithium-ion-electric-car/
<p>Light and compact lithium-ion batteries sound great for electric vehicles–aside from their historical tendency to catch fire. But recent advances in electrode chemistry have made them much safer. One of the first vehicles to use the new batteries comes from a Norwegian company, Think. By year’s end, Think plans to start selling ultracompact electric cars with a range of more than 100 miles. A123 Systems of Watertown, MA, and Indianapolis’s EnerDel will provide the batteries.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409964/lithium-ion-electric-car/Perfect Panoramic Photoshttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409963/perfect-panoramic-photos/
<p>Forget those measly megapixel images your digital camera takes. The Gigapan robotic camera mount–the product of a partnership between NASA, Google, Carnegie Mellon University, and Charmed Labs of Austin, TX–lets you precisely pan and tilt your camera so that photos can be digi­tally stitched together into seamless <em>gigapixel </em>panoramas. At Gigapan.org and in Google Earth, you can explore hundreds of panoramas uploaded by participants in the Gigapan product trial.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409963/perfect-panoramic-photos/Mind-Reading Game Controllerhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409962/mind-reading-game-controller/
<p>The new video-game controller from Emotiv Systems is a wireless headset with 16 embedded sensors that register electrical signals from the brain. The device can detect users’ facial expressions and emotions, potentially giving digital characters the personalities of their creators. Once the headset is calibrated to a player’s brain signals, the player can push, pull, lift, and drop virtual objects using thoughts alone. The device comes with a game designed to explore the possibilities of brain-controlled gaming, but it can be adapted to any PC game.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409962/mind-reading-game-controller/Wi-Fi Goes Longhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409961/wi-fi-goes-long/
<p>Ordinarily, hooking a Wi-Fi router up to a directional antenna lets you send a Wi-Fi signal a few kilometers. By modifying the router’s software, however, Intel has increased that distance to as much as 100 kilometers. </p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409961/wi-fi-goes-long/Three-Minute Anthrax Sensorhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409960/three-minute-anthrax-sensor/
<p>By using live mouse immune cells, the BioFlash sensor can detect potential airborne bioterror agents in three minutes. Fans pull airborne particles into a disposable disc containing the mouse cells, which have been genetically engineered to emit blue light when exposed to one of six agents, including anthrax and smallpox. The glowing cells eliminate the need for sample preparation and for a separate imaging system. The U.S. government is already using the BioFlash for building security in the Washington, DC, area.</p>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409960/three-minute-anthrax-sensor/Water-Activated Generatorhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409589/water-activated-generator/
<p>Hydrogen fuel cells may be decades away from widespread use in cars, but later this year, consumers will be able to buy a fuel-cell generator that’s light and compact enough to grab off a shelf during a blackout–or even take on a backpacking trip. The 22-­centimeter-tall generator weighs about two kilograms with an unactivated fuel cartridge. Add water, plug in a device, and the system pumps sodium borohydride solution over a catalyst, freeing hydrogen to power the cell.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409589/water-activated-generator/Pocket Photo Labhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409588/pocket-photo-lab/
<p>Polaroid has developed an ultrasmall printer for digital photos that provides the same instant gratification its cameras are renowned for. The printer, roughly the size of a deck of cards, can connect to a cell phone wirelessly or to a camera with a USB cable. It has hundreds of tiny, precisely controllable heating elements that draw color out of specially designed two-by-three-inch photo paper. The paper has layers of nanocrystals that turn different colors depending on how long they’re heated and at what temperature.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409588/pocket-photo-lab/A Better Brain Scannerhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409587/a-better-brain-scanner/
<p>A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device that fits the subject’s head like a helmet could speed up brain scans and improve their resolution. Where a conventional MRI machine might have 12 detection coils, the new system instead uses 32 small coils that are closer to the head, yielding a clearer signal. The system can produce more-accurate maps of vital brain areas, so doctors can avoid them during surgery. Eventually, it might also distinguish different types of tumors, aiding treatment decisions.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409587/a-better-brain-scanner/First Laser TVhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409586/first-laser-tv/
<p>Mitsubishi’s new TV is the first to use laser light, which produces exceptionally vivid color. Like some existing TVs, Mitsubishi’s uses an array of tiny, movable mirrors; red, blue, and green light beams strike the mirrors and are reflected onto the screen in different combinations. But because laser light is so pure–all its photons have exactly the same wavelength–the color combinations can be much more precise. The TV will be on the market by the end of the year.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409586/first-laser-tv/Competition for the Wiihttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409585/competition-for-the-wii/
<p>Like the Nintendo Wii game controller, the Motus Darwin lets video gamers control digital characters using physical gestures; unlike the Wii, it doesn’t determine its position by triangulating with an infrared emitter fastened to the television. Instead, it measures gravitational forces and its own orientation with respect to magnetic north. So it doesn’t get confused if its line of sight to the emitter is broken–by obstacles, or by gestures that yank it out of range.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409585/competition-for-the-wii/Infection Detectionhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409584/infection-detection/
<p>Multi-drug-resistant staph infections have emerged as the most common skin and soft-tissue infections in the United States. If they reach the bloodstream, they can turn deadly. A new genetic test, which works on blood cultures, takes only a few hours to identify drug-resistant staph, where previous tests took days. The test kit includes reagents that detect DNA sequences characteristic of the drug-resistant and the garden-variety strains of the bacterium.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.technologyreview.com/files/14528/0308-Gene_x600.jpg" alt="" height="397" width="600" /><br /><em>Credit: Courtesy of BD Diagnostics <br /></em></p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409584/infection-detection/Personal Cell Towerhttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409583/personal-cell-tower/
<p>Many cell-phone owners don’t want to pay for landlines but are unhappy with spotty cell reception indoors. Enter the Airave, a wireless base station for the home, which transmits over normal cell-phone frequencies and offers about 5,000 square feet of coverage. The device plugs into a broadband modem and sends calls over the Internet, but recipients can use any wired or wireless phone network. Sprint has pilot programs in three U.S. cities and plans to launch the service nationally this year.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409583/personal-cell-tower/Instant-On Computinghttp://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409582/instant-on-computing/
<p>Sometimes you want to send a quick e-mail or look something up online but don’t feel like waiting for your computer to boot up. With Splashtop, you can be surfing the Web in seconds. Built into a computer’s basic input-­output system–the software that sets up the operating system–Splashtop gives you a choice at startup: you can either boot up normally or load a stripped-down operating system that runs just a few common applications. Circuit boards featuring the system are on the market now; they should turn up in computers within months.</p>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/409582/instant-on-computing/